Autobiography defamation

When you sit down to write your memoir, there are some legal issues that you need to be cognizant of, such as defamation, invasion of privacy, and right of publicity.

There are other items to be aware of as well, but let’s focus on these three for now.

Defamation

Defamation is a tort, which comes in two forms: libel and slander. Libel occurs when you publish a false statement purporting to be fact that injures another’s reputation, whereas slander occurs when you speak a false statement that injures another’s reputation.

For our purposes, let’s focus on libel, since that is most relevant to authors.

Autobiography defamation

So the first question you may ask is how do you commit libel? A plaintiff suing for libel must prove four things:

1) Publication – a publication must be communicated to a third person (that is, to someone other than whom the statement is about).

Publication can be in many forms, such as in a newspaper or online forum, for example.

2) Ident